POP SCENE
The Globe & Mail
July 19, 1969
Blind Faith is far from leftover Cream
By RITCHIE YORKE
Many people went to Varsity Stadium last
night hoping to witness whipped-over Cream. They wanted to see guitarist Eric
Clapton and drummer Ginger Baker re-working 12-bar blues in exquisite Cream
fashion. Probably, they also wanted to see Steve Winwood and Rick Grech, two
new faces not from the Cream lineup, to support Clapton and Baker in a Creamy
concert. About 5,000 attended.
In these respects, they were disappointed,
but they nevertheless went away happy. Blind Faith, the new super group, was
not only better than Cream but a far sight more imaginative, novel and,
therefore, more interesting.
Winwood, a 21-year-old pop prodigy (nurtured
through the heavy days of Spencer Davis and Traffic), with enough talent to
stand up with anyone in pop (Hendrix included), was not just the anticipated
organist, guitarist and singer of good quality.
He was outstanding, and in several songs
completely stole the limelight from Clapton and Baker. That was inevitable: he
sang the first six songs of the night, and also played guitar and organ. Baker
was content to grind out a crashing beat while Clapton demurely gurgled his
guitar through some splendid blues riffs.
Winwood’s voice - a throaty and whining instrument
- was perfectly suited to the subtle melody changes. In the fifth song, I Found
a Place to Live, it was the final farewell to Cream.
At that point there was no longer any doubt
that Blind Faith had curdled Cream.
In the end, Cream had done the same old
songs, chord changes, the same gig night after night. But Blind Faith is
refreshingly different.
The songs were so removed from traditional
blues: they were more of simple but elastic rock ‘n’ roll than Muddy Waters or
Robert Johnston.
The sound was excellent, but I was sitting a
bare three feet from the resounding speakers.
Baker’s drumming churned through like an egg
beater; Clapton’s guitar was like streaks of raw electricity; Grech’s bass
throbbed like a poisoned finger; Winwood was overpowering.
Will Blind Faith remain intact? Or are we to
go through Cream-like changes?
As long as the band can make music as it did
last night, I see no reason why Blind Faith will not share the pop pantheon
with gods like Hendrix and Winter.
Blind Faith was preceded by Delaney and
Bonnie and Friends, which for want of a better term, could only have been
described as a white gospel set.
Delaney and Bonnie, husband and wife,
produced some notable winners, especially Do Right Woman and Get Yourself
Together. Bonnie was a visual and vocal treat and with Delaney presented the
best white blues sound in pop since the Righteous Brothers. If only the drummer
had been able to belt on the beat.
Opening the show was Taste, a trio from